Trident signs IP license deal amid Q2 loss

SAN FRANCISCO—Digital TV chip vendor Trident Microsystems Inc. Thursday (July 28) announced it reached an agreement to license some of its video processing technology and reported a narrower second quarter loss on sales that fell short of consensus analysts' expectations.

Trident (Sunnyvale, Calif.) said the non-exclusive patent licensing deal is part of the company's ongoing effort to make a limited number of licenses for its MEMC patent portfolio available to TV OEMs and consumer electronics semiconductor providers.

This is the second patent license agreement that Trident has announced for its MEMC patents. Earlier this year, the company announced a licensing agreement with Taiwan's MStar Semiconductor Inc. covering part of Trident's MEMC portfolio.

According to Trident, MEMC technology has become a de facto standard by enabling superior picture quality when displaying high-definition and 3-D video on televisions, computer monitors, tablet computers and other video-enabled consumer electronics devices.

"Our MEMC technology represents decades of development that was originally started at Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. and has become widely recognized as the highest quality solution in the industry," said Tony Francesca, Trident's vice president of corporate and business development, in a statement.

Also Thursday, Trident reported that its second quarter revenue slipped to $69.6 million, down 21 percent from first quarter revenue and down 59 percent from the second quarter of 2010. Trident reported a net loss in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) of $29.6 million, or 15 cents per share, narrower compared to GAAP net losses of $40.8 million and $48.8 million in the previous and year-ago quarters, respectively.

On a non-GAAP basis, excluding charges, Trident reported a net loss of $21.7 million, or 12 cents per share, compared to non-GAAP net losses of $22.4 million and $14.6 million in the previous and year-ago quarters, respectively.

Consensus analysts' expectations for the second quarter called for Trident to report sales of $72.5 million and non-GAAP earnings of 13 cents per share, according to Yahoo Finance.

"Although financial results for the second quarter were in-line with the company's guidance range, the negative trends for both revenue and profitability underscore the need for a comprehensive turnaround," said Bami Bastani, Trident's president and CEO, in a statement.

"The turnaround's aim is to restore Trident to profitable growth by focusing resources on the key capabilities that differentiate us in the highly attractive connected home market and achieving an appropriate cost structure," Bastani said.

For the current quarter, Trident said it expects revenue to increase to between $72 million and $78 million.